Clutch mechanism for sound-reproducing machines and the like



' Feb. 23 1926. W. GRQENEBAUM CLUTCH MECHANISM FOR SOUND REPRODUCIIJJG MACHINES AND THE LIKE Filed Jan. 5, 1925 I Jrzverzfor Patented Feb. 23, 1926;

UNITED STATESPATENT- orrica.

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Application inea Ianuary a, 1525. Serial No. eas.

T whom it may concern:

Bg it known that I, WnnHELM Gromm- BAU a citizen of the German'Empire, residing at Neu-Babelsberg, near Berlin, Germany, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Clutch Mechanisms tor Sound-Reproducing Machines and the like for which I have filed an ap lication in diately starting .the'record at full speed so. as to obtain a faithful I'GPI'OdIIGtIOD Of the speech impressed on the record, This object is attained b providing a drivmgflmember, such as an e ectric or spring motor, that continually rotatesat a constant speed, and

arranging the driving pulleyjor toothed wheel of therecord carrier to be coupled with, and uncoupled from, the driving memher by. means of a clutch. The belt pulley or toothed wheel. is arranged; on a fixed axle that is coaxial with the motor sh it I and has clutch members or projections ada ted 'to be engaged by clutch members of a longitudinally movable coupling sleeve on the motor shaft.

The arrangement of the beltpulley on a fixed i. e. non-rotary, pinor axle, instead of placing it on the shaft of the motor, has the advantage that the pulley is not liable tobe" carried-round by. friction between itself and the constantly rotatmg motor shaft. The novel arrangementis still 4 further improved by combining witli the" y movable coupling sleevean longitudina arresting device which normally locks the Y belt pulley a ainst' rotation but, when'the rotatlng coup sleeve is moved into engagementwith the pulley, automatically re-' leases the latter and conversely, whenthe cou ling sleeve is disengaged ,from the pn ey, immediately arrests the 'latter..

Machanisms of thiskind are generally controlled mechanically or pneumatically.

Electrically controlled clutch mechanisms are also known which are operated by an electromagnetl' In these known arrangements the electromagnet is normally main tained energized so that an unnecessary consumption of energy takes place. These known mechanisms can only be operated by continuous current and are only adapted for predetermined .nonfluctuatingvoltages. ln'the present invention the lever foxthrowmg the coupling sleeve into and outof engag'ement is operated by an electromagnet an The electromagnet is nis'm in its position of engagement. A second eletromagnet, which also only requires a momentary energizing current, is V provided for disengaging" the coupling. Furtlier features of the invention hereinafter; 1 d

- The invention is illustrated in the drawing which shows the clutch mechanism, but in which the actualsou'nd reproducin machine to be driven is not shown, as t is is unnecessary for the. proper understanding of the invention;

I The machine to be driven is driven from a belt pulley '1- or a toothed wheel or the like will appear locked in the 'coupling' position by a mechanical device. Y switched on by a snap switch that only closes the circuit momentarily, it being unnecessary to maintain the electromagnet energized for the purpose of keeping the. clutch mechawhich imparts motion to the machine through a speed change'gear. Power is derived from any suitable source such as an electro-motor 0 which may be connected to a current supply in any desired manner.

The shaftw' driven by the motor is provided with a longitudinally movable spline d fcou'pling sleeve .e. The ends of the-coupling sleeve 0 and of the pulley 1 that face each other are provided with clutch members, a

n that enter into engagement when the clutchis thrown'into its operative positioni .The 'belt pulley r is arranged to rotate on a fixed axle or. pin. (1 that is coaxial .with the shaft w; -'I he 'couplin'%1 sleeve 6 is shifted by a pivoted lever 10., w ich is normally retracted by a spring f. d The lever It carries l .an armature a adapted to beattracted by the coupling electro-ma'gnetm. The sleeve a has an angular groove into which fits a roller It mounted-rotatably on the lever =h, the latter beifigfulcrumed-at g. The bpttom end of the lever h is bevelled and adapted to be seized by a catch h when the coupling sleeve 6 is in engagement with the driving pulley r. The pivoted catch it has an armature a and is normally retracted from the pole of the uncoupling magnet m. by a spring f. A rod 0 is pivotally attached at c to the lever h and adapted to shift an arrestin pin .2 which is arranged to enter in to t e path of a projection p on the pulley 1'. The electro-magnets m m are connected to leads u, 4), which extend to. a switch S, and to a common lead a; from a current supply. In the common lead from the current supply, which latter may be a battery or the local lighting or. power circuit, there is preferably connected an iron resistance e0 enclosed in a chamber filled with hydrogen. The circuits of the electromagnets' are closed by a snap switch S,

. which, as indicated by the broken lines, may

be at some-distance from the clutch mecha nism. The snap switch'S comprises a leafspring b and two fixed contacts is, 1: arranged at opposite sides of a piece of insulating material Z.-- When the switch 6 is pressed down it is bent. to suchan extent by the successive contact with contact is and the projecting portion of the insulation L that when finally the bent switch clears the insulation L, it will sna past the contact is without touching it. imilarly, when the switch I) is moved upwardly irom its lowermost position, it will come into engagement with, contact k and the porjecting portion of insulation Lfbut will be bent to such an extent as to avoid contact with contact is. The parts is, k and L are held stationary as by attaching them to the base plate 23 of the switch-S in any suitable manner (not shown). The spring bis connected by a lead 3 to the other pole of the current supply. It-is attached to a pedal t that is restored to its normal position by a spring (not shown) when it'is-released. The switch S may, of course, be arranged to be operated by an elbow or handv instead of by foot. The plate t.may be adapted to any ,of these purposes.

The clutch mechanism operates in the following manner:

The shaft w is kept rotating at a constant speed by the motor 0. When the talking machine, dictograph or. telephonograph or the like, is to be started thepedal t is depressed and the leaf-spring b is thus caused to momentarily make contact with the contact member If. This results in a. momentary energization of the coupling ma et m acircuit extending from the lea .3 through the spring I), contact 10,, agnet mf to the return lead an. The 111 netim' pulls. the lever h" towards the le t, thhrebyshifting the splined cou ling sleeve esp. asto bring itscoupling mem rs n into either of the con-- the catch k which seizes, the bottom end of the lever It when it is swung by the magnet 12?. to the left. To release the coupling sleeve e the magnet m is energized. This magnet then attracts the armature a and pulls the catch 12. from the lever 7:. so that the latter is pulled to t he right by the spring f and shifts back the coupling sleeve e, thus causing the clutch members 91. to disengage from the clutchmembers n. At the same time the rod 0 is shifted so that the arrestingpin z is brought into the path of the projection 12 and the belt pulley 1*, that drives the talking machine, is immediately stopped. v

The electromagnet m is energized when the pedal t is released. The leaf-spring 6, during its upward travel, wipes against the a fixed shaft coaxial with the rotating shaft,

a driving wheel on the fixed shaft, a clutch having one member splined on the rotating shaft for sliding movement along the latter and having its companion 'member' fixed to the driving wheel, a lever for operating the 1 sliding clutch member, electro-magnetic means for operating the lever, a catch for holding the lever in its operative position, an arresting device for arresting the motion of the driving wheel, and means for automatically disengaging the arresting device from the driving wheel when the clutch couples the wheel with the rotating shaft.

2. Clutch mechanism for sound reproducin machines, comprising a rotating shaft,

a. xed shaft coaxial .with the rotating shaft,

:1 driving wheel onthe fixed shaft, a clutch member splined on the rotating shaftfor coupling the latter to clutch means on the driving wheel, a lever for operating the clutch member, electro-magnetic means for operating the lever, a catch for holding the lever in its 0 rative position,-means for operating sai d an arrestm device forarresting'the motion of the driving wheehand means for automatica'lly the arresting device catch to release said lever,

lever, a catch for'ho ding the lever in its operative position, a magnet for operating said catch to release said lever, an arresting device for arresting the motionpf the driving wheel, means for automaticall disengagin the arresting device from t e driving w eelwhen the clutch member couples the wheel with the rotatin shaft, separate energizing circuits for sai magnets, and a switch for transitorily closing at each operation of the switch-the one or other of said circuits. 7 I

4.,Clutch mechanism for sound reproducing machines, com rising a rotating shaft,

:1 fixed shaft coaxia with the rotating shaft, :1 driving wheel on the fixed shaft, a clutch means including a member splined on the rotating shaftfor couplin the latter to the driving wheel, a lever, or. operating theclutch member, an electro-magnet for operating the lever, acatch for holdin lever in its o'peratiye position, an e ectromagnet for operating saidcatch to release said lever, an arresting device for arresting the motion of the driving wheel, 'means for automatically disengaging the arrestin device from the driving wheel when the c utch member couples the wheel with the rotating shaft, separate energizing circuits for said magnets, a current supply,and a switch for iransitorily closing at each operation of the switch the one or other of said circuits, said switch consisting of a movable metallic member connected to one pole of said current supply, two. fixed contacts each connected in circuit through one of said magnets to the other pole of said current supply, means for establishing a fleetin contact between said metallic member an a said fixed contactand a piece of insulation between the fixed contacts which prevents the metallic member when operated in any one direction from contacting with the" second fixed contact-after it has contacted with the first fixed contact.

5. Clutch mechanism for sound reproducing machines comprising a revolvable shaft, a clutch member splined on said shaft, a

the

fixed axle spaced from and coaxial with said revolvable shaft, a wheel rotatable on said fixed axle, means on said wheel 00- operating with said clutch member, means for actuating the clutch member into and out of engagement with its cooperating means, on the wheel, means for releasably holding said actuating means in clutch engaging ling sai actuating means, a second electromagnet controlling said holding means, a selective switch having a yielding switch arm and a pair of fixed contacts','a common connection from the switch arm to both electromagnets, connections between the respec- (position, an electromagnet controltive electromagnetsand' contacts, said switch 7 arm being arranged to momentarily close the circuits through the respective contacts when moving in opposite directions.

6. Clutch mechanism for sound reproducing machines comprising a revolvable shaft, a clutch member splined on said shaft, a fixed axle spaced from and coaxial with said revolvable shaft, awheel rotatable on said .fixed axle, a clutch member fixed on said wheel and cooperating with said first-named .clutch member, spring pressed means for normally maintainin said clutch member out of engagement, tilectro-magnetic means for moving the splined clutch member into,v

enga ement with the clutch member on the whee ,and releasable locking means for retaining said clutch members in engagement when the said electromagnetic means is in operative. s

7. A clutch mechanism including a drive shaft, a clutch member splined thereon, a spindle, a rotatable pulley mounted on said spindle in axial alignment with said shaft, Y

a clutch member secured to said pulley,

means for normally maintaining the. clutch members out of engagement and thepulley locked against rotation, a latch coacting' with said means, electro-magnetic means adapted when energized to cause said means to move the splined clutch member into engagement with its companion member and to simultaneously release the pulley for rotation, a second electro-magnetic means adapted when energized to move said latch to disengaging position, electricalconnections for both said electro-magnetic means, and aswitch in said connections for energizing both said electros maiglnetic means in a-predetermined sequence.

testimony whereof I have aifixed' my signature.

' .WIL'HELM GROENEBAUM. 

